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Month: June 2016

Being that it’s nearing Father’s Day, let me just share something that is about my old man that might also be relevant to other fathers out there, as well. My dad, now in his 60s, had a check up with his doctor, and came home with a whole new diet plan. Not so unusual, he had to cut out fatty, salty food and watch his calorie intake to keep his heart’s health in check. But along with the food that he was advised to stay away from were those containing gluten. He’s never had symptoms of adverse reaction to gluten and so I had to take a second look at his not-to-eat list as. I had to wonder, can celiac disease develop later in life?

Celiac disease is an inherited case of autoimmune disorder where gluten, a protein found in some food like wheat, barley and rye, adversely affects a person’s digestive process. Some symptoms that can occur are skin conditions like eczema, digestive conditions like bloating, constipation, pain and diarrhea, even others seemingly unrelated to digestion, like fatigue, migraines and severe ones like seizures. Though in the US, according to an article published in celiac.org, only 1 out of a 100 people actually have this condition.

However, if you do not have the condition today, does that mean you are forever in the clear? According to a research published in 2010 in the Annals of Medicine, we have reason to believe that that might not be the case.

One of the research’s goal was to investigate if there would be any changes in prevalence of celiac disease in people over time. The research involved studying matching blood samples taken from 3,511 participants in 1974 and then again in 1989, 15 years after. Among the subjects, the prevalence ratio rose from 1 : 501 to 1 : 219 before and after. In other words, the prevalence increased 2-fold in the test subjects over this time. The study concludes that this is due to test subjects’ loss of immunological tolerance towards adulthood.

However, adopting a new lifestyle that involves cutting anything out of your diet should be studied closely. It is always a smart thing to consult a doctor before going on a gluten-free diet.

And so my dad, not actually confirmed yet to have celiac disease still has to check his symptoms and have regular check ups with his doctor, to see if his well being will improve after following a gluten-free diet.

And just to be on the safe side, it would be best now to look for gluten-free food to support this new diet.